1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a system and method for sorting data. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for sorting data sample lots into a composite parameter structure without the use of a reference standard.
2. Background Discussion
Conventional data sorting techniques for sample lots typically use a reference standard to identify specific data or aggregate data using a group-by field process. Data manipulation techniques that do not rely on reference standards generally seek to resolve or separate sample data for further analysis. One definition of a reference standard is a substance that has been shown by an extensive set of analytical tests, to be authentic material of high purity. This standard may be obtained from a recognized source or may be prepared by independent synthesis or by further purification of existing production material. Another definition of a reference standard is a substance of established quality and purity, as shown by comparison to a primary reference standard, used as a reference standard for routine laboratory analysis.
Yet another definition of a reference standard is a drug, chemical, or dosage form of specified properties used as the basis for quantitative comparison with other materials of qualitatively similar properties. The purpose of such a comparison is to express the amount or degree of the designated property in the “other” material as a fraction or multiple of the amount or degree of the property contained in the standard. The reference standard serves as a unit of measurement for the properties of the other, or “unknown,” material. Even physical systems of measurement are based on reference standards. The use of reference standards is of particularly great importance to the design and interpretation of biological experiments. In biological experiments, particularly, variability and instability of the biological test system can markedly influence the apparent effects and effectiveness of substances being tested.
One example of a conventional sorting technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,435, issued to Rathman, entitled, “Method, System, and Computer Program for Computing Histogram Aggregations.” This patent relates to a data record transformation that computes histograms and aggregations for an incoming record stream. The data record transformation computes histograms and aggregations and operates in a streaming fashion on each record in an incoming record stream. A limited number of records are operated on during a particular time, thereby minimizing the memory requirements. A data transformation unit includes a binning module and a histogram aggregation module. The histogram aggregation module processes each binned and sorted record to form an aggregate record in a histogram format. Data received in each incoming binned and sorted record is expanded and accumulated in an aggregate record for matching group-by fields. An associative data structure holds a collection of partially aggregated histogram records. A histogram aggregation module processes each binned record to form an aggregate record in a histogram format. Input records from the unordered record stream are matched against the collection of partially aggregated histogram records and expanded and accumulated into the aggregate histogram record having matching group-by fields. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
Another example of a conventional sorting technique is described by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0036856, applied by Excoffier, entitled, “Method and System for Classifying Chromatograms.” This application relates to a method and system for chromatogram analysis in which a chromatogram is reduced to a data set that can be compared to another such data set, producing a comparison result that indicates the similarity or dissimilarity of the two chromatograms. This can be used to identify DNA sequence variations through chromatogram analysis. This patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,539, issued to Gordon, entitled, “Correlated Multi-Dimensional Chromatography with Confirmatory Hybrid Run” relates to a correlated two-dimensional gas chromatography system, in which peaks from one chromatogram are associated, or “paired” with respective peaks of another chromatogram. Both peaks of a pair should correspond to the same sample component. A hybrid chromatographic column is designed so that the retention time of a sample component is the average of the retention times of that component in the two independent columns. Thus, a peak location in the hybrid chromatogram can be calculated for each pair of peaks. The absence of a peak at that location or the inconsistency of the area of a peak at that location disconfirms the pairing. The invention also provides for higher dimensional systems and for other separation technologies. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
While the above-described patents and patent application provide techniques to sort and classify data samples, none of these conventional approaches provide a method to sort data in a sample lot without a reference standard to identify specific data components or a group-by field to aggregate data. Unfortunately, conventional techniques that do not rely on reference standards are also not adequate, because these techniques only serve to resolve the peaks and do not compare the peaks between sample lots. Thus, it would be an advancement in the state of the art to sort data into a composite parameter structure without a reference standard.